Note from JWR:

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $300. The auction is for a scarce original 1980s-vintage Heckler und Koch 19mm Emergency Flare Launcher (EFL) aka “Notsignalgerät“ from my personal collection. It comes with three magazines and 28 scarce original German 19mm flares–10 red, 10 white, and 8 green. Together, this package is worth approximately $400. It is not classified as a “firearm” under Federal law. (Consult your state and local laws before bidding.) Sorry, no overseas bids will be accepted for this auction. This auction ends on January 15th. Please e-mail us your bids, in …


Letter Re: Going into Debt to Acquire Firearms Before New Ban Legislation is Enacted?

Mr. Rawles, Thanks for your recent advice. My question to you now combines questions of politics, debt, and firearms. The last time the executive and legislative branches were [both] held by the Democrats, we all got to enjoy the Assault Weapons Ban for 10 years. How removing a bayonet lug from firearms reduced gun violence, I’m not sure. The big problem with this, however, was obviously the magazine capacity limitations. The election of 2008 makes a similar act quite possible. By October 2008, a front-runner will probably have emerged. If that front-runner is not gun-friendly, where do we go from …


Two Letters Re: Sources for Gasoline and Diesel Fuel in a Grid-Down Collapse

Mr. Rawles, A good out-of-the-box solution to diesel fuel transfer comes from Northern Tool & Equipment, item #360. I use mine for diesel, waste vegetable oil, and heating oil. One nice feature is that it pumps at 10 gpm. That’s moving a lot of fuel in a short period of time. I usually run mine off a 12 VDC jumper battery. Water often sits at the bottom of storage tanks. You really don’t want to pump that into your vehicle. A quick and cheap modification of the pump assembly solves the problem. I spliced in two feet of 1 inch …


Odds ‘n Sods:

MWR mentioned than investment counselor Jim Willie posted another interesting piece at the Financial Sense University web site: Exit 2007: Denials and Tontaria    o o o RBS found us this one: Credit Downturn Hits the Malls    o o o And here is another courtesy of RBS: Police in Metro Vancouver [British Columbia] Seeing New Gang Fashion – Armored Vehicles    o o o Reader Bob B. noted the new RWVA match and shooting clinic schedule for 2008 is now up on the RWVA web site. Click on “Appleseed” to the left in the task bar to learn more …



Letter Re: Skills Versus Gear for Survival

Jim, After reading the Profiles you have posted. I have come to the conclusion I cannot hold a dime to these folks. Makes me wonder why should I bother. Hmmm, that thought lasts all of five seconds. A lot of the people for whom you profiled are in a much higher income bracket than the rest of us working folks. Personally, I have two jobs and work 12-14 hours a day. I was unlucky enough to be in a third rear end collision. In my life time this year, although instead of being rear ended by an illegal uninsured illegal …


Weekly Survival Real Estate Market Update

2007 is over and the new year looks like it will bring some of the best survival real estate deals to be had in years. For those of you out there that are on the edge of actually making a retreat purchase anywhere in the world, your best bet will be in the next three months (in the snowy northern latitude climates that is) as the mad panic is now in full swing. Sellers are dropping prices and now willing to carry private notes on their properties with reasonable down payments. If you can wait it out until the fall …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Robert B. mentioned that Internet old-timer Clayton Cramer posted this to his blog: Wow! $1/Watt Solar Panels! (FWIW, I can a remember reading Clayton Cramer Usenet posts back around 1989. That was back before the days of web browsers, when we would log in to the text-only Usenet.)    o o o “Hawgtax” sent us this one from Derry Brownfield’s site: New swine flu virus has genes from avian flu    o o o Cathy Buckle mentioned in a recent African Tears post: “Air Zimbabwe announced that one return air fare from Harare to London had increased to $804 million …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"In peace and prosperity states and individuals have better sentiments, because they do not find themselves suddenly confronted with imperious necessities; but war takes away the easy supply of daily wants, and so proves a rough master than brings most men’s characters to a level with their fortunes." – Thucydides, circa 400 BC, during a revolt on Corfu



Letter Re: Hardening Gates for Retreat Security

JWR: Since I had some spare time over winter break I re-read “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. It is an awesome book, I really like the “survival manual wrapped in a fiction novel” format. It left me with a few thoughts on physical retreat security. I am talking about locks, fences, gates, and so forth –not people. When the gate lock was cut [in the novel] you mentioned the characters welding a 3 inch pipe [section to the gate post] to protect the [new] lock. That is a great idea, except many who live in timber country are aware of …


Four Letters Re: A Twenty-Something EMT with Limited Preps Storage Space

Hello, The recently-posted letter “A Twenty-Something EMT with Limited Preps Storage Space” is something that a lot of us apartment dwellers struggle with all the time. I read and re-read the article several times. She never mentioned about space under the bed. I jacked my bed frame up, quietly mind you, with cinder blocks. Not only do I have a whole extra foot of height worth of space. I also have a bed where as I am not climbing out of but am sitting up and sliding off. Makes a big difference in the morning at least for me.. Between …


Odds ‘n Sods:

One of my predictions (from 2005) comes true, in an article forwarded to us by Eric S.: Americans ‘walk’ from loans. My favorite quote from the article: “Lewis’ comments came as a new expression – “jingle mail” – referring to the growing trend where Americans mail the keys to their homes to the lenders before vacating, entered the US lexicon.”    o o o It appears that silver and gold are resuming their bull market advances, with spot gold spiking above $820 per ounce and silver running up past $14.60 per ounce. Congrats to those of you that took my …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” – President Calvin Coolidge


Note from JWR:

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $200. The auction is for a scarce original 1980s-vintage Heckler und Koch 19mm Emergency Flare Launcher (EFL) aka “Notsignalgerät“ from my personal collection. It comes with three magazines and 28 scarce original German 19mm flares–10 red, 10 white, and 8 green. Together, this package is worth approximately $400. It is not classified as a “firearm” under Federal law. (Consult your state and local laws before bidding.) Sorry, no overseas bids will be accepted for this auction. This auction ends on January 15th. Please e-mail us your bids, in …